In geographical terms, Herb White's years in the financial services industry have taken him almost nowhere. In fact, his entire career has taken place within a three-block radius. Nevertheless, the journey has been long, fulfilling and successful.
White got started just down the road from the current location of his Denver-based practice, Life Certain Wealth Strategies. He began working at a local investment broker in 1997, but quickly became disillusioned. "It seemed that the focus was purely on transactions," he remembers. He says the majority of sales were conducted over the phone, rather than "the face-to-face interaction I had envisioned. I wanted to be involved in the planning, to meet with clients in person and understand their goals and objectives in order to bring value and try to help."
Building knowledge
Over the next few years, White began working toward his CFP, CLU and other designations, with an end goal of "understanding more about the tools at my disposal so I could better help people solve their problems." In 2002, White decided he was ready to strike out on his own, so he opened his own planning firm. "And I still look forward to coming in every day," he says.
At first, White grew his business by conducting onsite educational workshops for nearby employers like the Red Cross or local utilities companies. Initially, the presentations were relatively simple, he says. "We would go in and explain the benefits they already had. We became well-versed in their specific plans so we could help explain them in detail and answer employees' questions." He describes how an employee who thinks he makes $50,000 a year based on salary alone is likely failing to consider the employer-provided health plan, 401(k) matching and other benefits that raise the actual dollar amount far higher. "So that would be our value proposition to the employer; that's why they had us come in," White says.
Once White felt he was "in" with a particular employer, his goal was to come back on a regular basis to present additional information that would be of value. One way to do this was by asking two simple questions. The first: "Show of hands. Who has a will?" Often, no one in the room would raise a hand. White recalls his follow up question with a chuckle: "Who thinks they might die one day?"
White networked with local attorneys who would join him at these events to help answer additional questions that arose. But after several of these attorneys brought their own advisors to subsequent meeting with clients rather than working with White, he thought, "There's got to be a better way." Over time, he formed partnerships with local attorneys and brought them in-house, eliminating the risk of being left out.
This was one of many lessons learned in the early days of White's career. "New things would often come along that I was not familiar with," he recalls. "If a new situation was presented, I'd go and read as much as I could, bone up on that, and reach out to other people who knew more about it. I called it 'last-minute learning.' But as time goes by, you develop a bigger repertoire and skill set and that makes it easier."
A team approach
Today, Life Certain Wealth Strategies' seventh-floor office is home to five advisors, three attorneys and a full administrative team. In addition, members of the practice meet regularly with a local CPA/tax specialist, a P&C specialist and other professional affiliates.
Having access to such a broad knowledge base allows the firm to take a comprehensive view of each client's situation, White says. "The way I view it, we must first have a complete understanding. Once I understand the broader picture, then I'm going to work backward to address each piece of it." His initial discussions with clients cover topics ranging from budgets and tax mitigation to health care and potential caretaking responsibilities that could arise down the road.
In addition, White's background in investments, combined with a Series 4 license (Registered Options Principal), have helped him carve out a niche with local companies that offer employee stock options, an area he says "few people in our industry are really knowledgeable about."
The clock is ticking
White began to notice that the "people who are most likely to show up at workshops are those approaching retirement. In fact, a lot of [those I worked with at onsite workshops] early in my career are still clients. They're now in retirement and we continue to work with them. And that's the age group we still focus on today, for the most part."
